2013 vintage. Pitch black pour with a nice two finger caramel-colored head with good retention and great lacing. Roasty, chocolaty nose with hints of cinnamon, cocoa, licorice, espresso, and vanilla. The taste follows suit with big roasty chocolate fudge notes with hints of cinnamon, espresso, cocoa, licorice, and as it warms, the chilies finally emerge but don't overpower. The mouthfeel is maybe a little thin for a stout, with a mouth-coating finish and a subtle burn from the chilies. Overall, this is a really flavorful and extremely drinkable chocolate stout.

Thanks Master Cheeksalot for the bottle. Thought I had reviewed this at some point, surprise!

A- Black bodied pour into a goblet with a one finger tan head. The frothy cap dies down fairly quickly to a ring at the edges and a few small islands. Sparse lacing.

S- For the style and ABV not one of the most pungent examples I have had with milk chocolate, fudge, vanilla and coffee coming to mind; all wrapped together by roast barley.

T- Starts off with moderately sweet malts bringing notes of milk chocolate, brownies, slight char, roastiness and some toasted nuts. The sweetness melds with the vanilla and the peppers come out late in the game, but only a tiny bit. Cinnamon seems to float in and out and reminds me of the Mexican bark pieces.

MF- Substantially creamy texture to the heavy overall body. Carbonation comes in at a medium level and it finishes slightly warm and roasty bitter. Decadent feel.

As good if not better than I remember from the first time I had this. The authentic cinnamon flavor becomes the key later on as it seems to really link the chocolate, roast grains and peppers. I wish I had some Mexican chocolate to eat along with this.

Color is black with a tan head. Produces pretty much no head even on a aggressive pour. Aroma has lots of roasted malt and sweet chocolate. The taste has roasted malts upfront followed by vanilla and sweet chocolate in the middle. Very mild cinnamon and pepper show up in the finish with roasted malt for a somewhat bitter finish. Full bodied, creamy texture to this, no booze at 9%, and very little carbonation. Overall, a very well balanced stout with the roastiness/pepper/cinnamon evenly matched with chocolate/vanilla flavors. Only complaint is I wish the peppers were more prominent, but this is still a great, flavorful stout at a great price too.

Poured jet black into my imperial nonic,a thinner deep beige colored head atop.Alot of vanilla and chocolate in the nose,as it sat more the alcohol sweetness along with some dark fruit came into play,not much ancho presence.Flavors of vanilla and bakers chocolate were nice but the ancho chilli flavors were very light wich I was hoping to get more of,nicely roasted in the finish.It's a double stout with rich flavors just lacking the chilli flavors wich was the main reason I bought the beer.

So Clown Shoes finally decided to start distributing their beers to Michigan, and their stuff has been showing up everywhere. Naturally, the cocoa, chile, cinnamon, vanilla stout is the one I must try first. Chocolate Sombrero pours the deepest possible shade of brown with some very faint, dark ruby trim. The thick, tan, micro-bubble head shows great retention and leaves some webbed lacing all around the top of the glass.

The aroma is an excited boxer bouncing in the corner; it comes out and hits you with a chocolate uppercut, comes back with a roasted malt left hook, cheap shots you with a vanilla knee in the abdomen, then teabags you on the ground with a sack of light cinnamon and even lighter chilies. Order of strength follows that schedule: chocolate, roast, vanilla, cinnamon, and lastly, chile. A nice aromatic balance of roasty and sweet with a touch of spice to mix things up.

A good, roasted malt backbone solidifies itself right off the bat with some sweet cocoa nib flavors that come steadily creeping in before long. A strong note of vanilla extract pulls through shortly thereafter; it's slightly disheartening to say I can actually "taste the extract", but you can tell it doesn't have the pure vanilla bean flavor. Still good, but maybe a touch too syrupy and sweet if it's not blended in perfect proportion.

Cinnamon comes out about halfway through each sip, and gets stronger over the course of the brew, adding a nice layered effect to the flavor. Basically no chilies with the first sip. Or the second. Or third. Not until nearly the last quarter of the glass do I notice a slight tingle on the back of my tongue with and insanely faint chile flavor. I think I prefer the fact that the chilies aren't overpowering... Or powering at all.

The one thing where this beer differs from other cocoa-vanilla-cinnamon-chile beers, like Mexican Cake or Hunahpu's, is the mouth feel. It's depressingly thin compared to the other two beers I mentioned, and overall just very vapid and thin for a stout in general. Carbonation is on the low side, which is okay, but I would prefer some kind of creamy, silky, and sexy-smooth body to accompany these flavors.

Hmm... Well, color me a little bit impressed. Good balance of flavors, and Chocolate Sombrero abides by the one (personal) rule I have when it comes to chile beers: do not overuse the chile peppers! Though the mouth feel can't compare to some of the big name stouts out there, it's nice to know that I can tide over my Mexican Cake and Hunahpu's cravings with a bomber of this stuff from my local store.